RETRO FIND: In 1997, the slang was so 'tight' your 'home skillet' would totally approve
You won’t find any of these words in a dictionary.
Fat means cool or interesting. Tight, same thing as fat. P H *** T. Is this tight? Oh, and this is also tight. It's a.m. Someone that looks good. Jokes jokes? Yeah. What's jokes. It's the bomb. How do you, how do you spell jokes? J O N S. Like you say, like the opposite of the words, like, you know, like it's hot and like, I'm low, blah blah, you know. They're just the kids next door. I know these teenagers seem to be speaking *** language that's out of this world, or is it that some of us just don't understand? you know. What you are hearing is nothing short of coke, Homie, which means what? Homie, what is? Homeboy, that means you're from the same home. That means like your friend is real cool with like homeboy, low, dull, like ill, sick, lot of words. *** lot of these words you'd be hard pressed to find in any dictionary anywhere. Just ask this hip teenage looking teacher. One girl said, Are you jocking him. Do you like him or feel attracted to him? We have to spell the word out to them, then they understand. We have the best words. Yeah, I mean groovy, groovy hip hip out. Say what? I know when I was in high school we used the word preppies to mean people who were perhaps smart but not athletic. You know, keep it real, keeping it real. Keeping it real means to. Keep everything about yourself never fake the funk. Don't fake the funk. Her eyes are faking the funk. They are. They are. I think it's good. I think it's good as long as they can distinguish between what is their language and what is the universal language. It's very important. What's the latest thing? Oh, my name is Uh, I don't know. I don't know any cool things. Oh, come on, man. I mean dude, I mean real hip. Am I *** cornball? Corn is whack. It's stupid crazy sounding its no sense. Let's see what I've learned so far. These are butter. Your your hosiery, I was told that as *** new word that that's butter. It's tight. It's the bum. You agree with that? You're about to leave, about to go somewhere, you say I'm about to bounce or something like that. You don't understand what you're saying, but she's saying, I'm bouncing. OK, I'm about to bounce out of here. Tim Tin, WBAL 11 News. I.
RETRO FIND: In 1997, the slang was so 'tight' your 'home skillet' would totally approve
You won’t find any of these words in a dictionary.
Updated: 1:56 PM CDT Aug 22, 2025
Editorial Standards ⓘ
In 1997, high school teens spoke a dialect that left adults puzzled: "phat" meant cool, "home skillet" was your friend and "da bomb" described someone who looked good.While some adults raised eyebrows at these slang terms, one teacher embraced them, saying, "I think it's good, as long as they can distinguish between what is their language and the universal language."When the bell rang, the students' verdict was in: the lesson was "sick," the vibe was "tight" and everyone was about to "bounce."Watch the video to decode more phrases like "fake the funk" and "jocking."If you enjoyed this video, explore more nostalgic finds in our archival playlist:
, Md. —
In 1997, high school teens spoke a dialect that left adults puzzled: "phat" meant cool, "home skillet" was your friend and "da bomb" described someone who looked good.
While some adults raised eyebrows at these slang terms, one teacher embraced them, saying, "I think it's good, as long as they can distinguish between what is their language and the universal language."
When the bell rang, the students' verdict was in: the lesson was "sick," the vibe was "tight" and everyone was about to "bounce."
Watch the video to decode more phrases like "fake the funk" and "jocking."
If you enjoyed this video, explore more nostalgic finds in our archival playlist: